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Like many Americans, many Floridians enjoy activities that involve firearms. Whether you are an avid experienced hunter, a beginner hunter, a member of law enforcement or the military, or just someone who is a gun enthusiast and shoots only for sport, firearms and ammunition are essential. As anyone experienced with firearms will say, safety and respect for the gun is essential. Treating a firearm with respect and following the safety rules makes firearm and gun activities enjoyable and safe. But even the most careful gun owner can find themselves in possession of a gun that is not safe. Many people place their safety in the hands of a gun manufacturer and believe the gun is safe for use. But what happens if you encounter a sudden unexpected discharge? What if the gun fires more rounds with a single trigger pull than you expected? What if it explodes, fails to eject the shell casing, or the safety simply fails, and you or someone else got hurt or killed. How could these things happen?
The answer may be that a defect in the design or the manufacturing of the gun is to blame.
If you or someone you know was injured or killed involving a firearm, you may be wondering whether you have a legal case.
The answer is possibly. Many firearm injures and deaths are caused by intentional use by someone or someone being negligent and careless. However, many firearm related injuries and deaths are the fault of the gun manufacturer, distributors, and retailers. They are not simply accidents. We have all heard someone say that someone died of a “hunting accident”. Most of the time, they are the result of preventable safety failures in the design and manufacture of the gun itself.
Why Can I Sue if I am Injured or a Love One is Killed While Using a Firearm?
Gun designers, manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers all have an obligation (called a duty) to make firearms safe for their customers and the surrounding public. A defective gun not only risks the lives of the user, but it also risks the lives of everyone in the area of the user. Sometimes manufacturers cut corners on design and manufacturing that result in defects that can lead to catastrophe.
Some common ways guns can be defective:
1. Defects in the firing pin or mechanism can result in misfires, double fires, and multiple fires.
2. Weak metal in the construction of the chamber or barrel can result in explosions during firing.
3. Improper or inadequate warnings and instructions on the proper ammunition to use can result in the user using ammunition that is not suitable for the firearm.
4. Cutting corners on the various safety mechanisms can result in the gun firing when dropped or at other times when the user is not intending to pull the trigger.
To recover compensation, an injured person typically must show:
1. A defect, either in the design of the firearm or in the manufacturing process, existed.
2. The defect caused the user or someone else’s injury or death.
Each case is unique, and determining responsibility often requires a detailed investigation into the firearm, the ammunition and the circumstance surrounding the incident itself that resulted in injury or death.
You cannot easily determine on your own if a defect is present in a particular firearm. Simply because a firearm is subject to recall does not mean you have a case. The opposite is also true. Simply because the firearm is not subject to a recall does not mean a defect did not cause the incident.
Attorneys experienced in defective firearm cases and the expert engineers they work with are needed to determine if a firearm is defective and if that defect caused your injuries.
What Compensation Can I Recover?
Depending on the facts of your case, compensation may include:
- Medical Expenses
- Future medical treatment
- Lost wages
- Loss of earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Disability
- Mental anguish
- Property damage
- Wrongful death damages can include all of the above as well.
- In rare cases punitive damages may be available. An experienced attorney can advise you on which of these damages you can seek.
The value of a claim depends on the severity of the injuries and the circumstances surrounding the accident.
How Long Do I Have to File a Claim in Florida?
Florida law limits the amount of time you have to pursue a personal injury or a wrongful death claim to 2 years.
Because scenes change rapidly and critical evidence can disappear, it is generally best to investigate potential claims as soon as possible.
What Should I Do After a Firearm Injury or Death?
The steps you take immediately after a gun incident can significantly affect your case.
1. Seek Medical Treatment
The health and safety of you and others around you come first.
Prompt medical treatment protects both your well-being and your legal claim by documenting the connection between the incident and your injuries.
2. Call Law Enforcement
Not only will law enforcement help determine whether the injury or death was due to an intentional act (something criminal) but the law enforcement investigation can be critical in proving a defective firearm was to blame.
Law enforcement also can take possession of the firearm, shell casings, bullets and bullet fragments, gun parts, and gun cases. All of this is critical evidence you can use to prove that the gun was taken care of and not misused, that the correct ammunition was used, and that the firearm was used correctly. Law Enforcement can also help document the scene with photographs and video, collect witness statements, and collect surveillance video, all while the information is fresh and at a time when you might not be able to do it yourself due to your injuries.
At all times though, keep the firearm and the ammunition you used safe from loss or damage. This step is critical evidence for use later.
Do not make the mistake of returning the firearm to the store or dealer where you purchased it or returning it to the manufacturer. Stores and gun manufacturers know full well that if a defect in a gun caused injury or death, they could be looking at a lawsuit in the millions of dollars. That creates a strong incentive for the store and the manufacturer to lose the gun, alter the gun, or do any number of things to the gun to destroy evidence of the defect. If the gun is lost, destroyed or altered, it can be very difficult or impossible to prove what the defect in the gun was.
Never trust the companies that you may have to sue in court to do the right thing and preserve the gun. Keep the gun safe, locked away or make sure law enforcement keeps possession of it.
3. Call Us
Finally, call an experienced defective gun lawyer. Just like there are people who shy away from guns because they are scared of them, or simply do not like them, there are lawyers who are scared of them and do not like them. That’s not us.
Trust your firearm case to a lawyer who not only knows firearms but has used them his whole life and still uses them today.
Firearm cases are different from ordinary defective product cases.
These claims often involve:
- Defendants who are located in different states or even outside the United States making suing them difficult at best, and impossible in some circumstances.
- Revolvers, semi-automatic handguns, bolt-action rifles, shotguns, semi automatic and automatic rifles, muzzleloaders, and black powder firearms are all distinct types of firearms, each with different designs, operating mechanisms, and characteristics. Each
type comes with its own unique issues. Understanding these differences is critical to the outcome of your case. - Different types of ammunition can affect the outcome of a case.
- The experience and training of the user can affect the outcome of a case.
- Different manufacturers employ different quality control and manufacturing specifications.
- There can be multiple responsible parties.
An attorney experienced in firearm cases can help identify all available sources of recovery for your injuries.
The Bottom Line
If you were injured as a result of firearm, do not assume it was just an “accident”.
An experienced attorney can investigate the circumstances, preserve critical evidence, and determine whether the gun is defective and if so, who is to blame for your injuries or death of a loved one.
If you have questions about a case involving a firearm in Florida, seeking legal advice early can help protect your rights and preserve valuable evidence. So, if you were injured by a firearm, give W. Lee Clark & Associates a call. We are experienced defective firearm attorneys.
Lee Clark, our founder, grew up with guns. By the age of 4 his father, a Navy veteran, introduced Lee to hunting. Bolt action rifles, shotguns, and semi-automatic rifles and handguns were common in Lee’s home growing up in South Georgia.
Lee got his first gun, a shotgun, at the age of 14 as a birthday gift and hunted with it constantly.
At the age of 18, Lee joined the Navy himself. During his 6 years in the Navy, he qualified on the .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, M16, 12-gauge shotgun, M60 machine gun, and M79 grenade launcher.
After the Navy, Lee worked for the Valdosta Police Department in Valdosta, Georgia as a law enforcement officer where he qualified using the Glock G21 (.45 caliber), the Glock G17 (9mm), 12-guage shotgun, and the Colt M4 Carbine. Lee qualified as a sharpshooter both in the police academy and at the Valdosta Police Department.
A hunter himself, Lee owns several firearms, including handguns, bolt-action rifles, semiautomatic rifles, shotguns and muzzle loaders, which he trains on at the range to maintain proficiency and safety. He teaches his children firearm safety. He and his family have taken and passed the Florida Hunters Safety Course, which he recommends every gun owner do.
If you have a case involving a firearm, don’t call some lawyer who claims to know about gun cases and gun defects, call a lawyer who owns guns, lives with guns, knows guns, uses guns, and has done so his entire life.
Call Us At (941) 218-0065
Call Us At (941) 218-0065
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship
